Mark Hamill Defends Jake Lloyd and the STAR WARS Prequels

The loyalty is strong with this one. In an interview with Vulture, Mark Hamill went to bat for the Star Wars prequels, and more specifically, defended some of the harsh criticisms of Jake Lloyd, who starred as a young Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace:

I couldn’t believe some of the things they wrote about the prequels, you know. I mean really, beyond ‘I didn’t like it.' 'You ruined my childhood!' I’m still angry about the way they treated Jake Lloyd. He was only ten years old, that boy, and he did exactly what George wanted him to do. Believe me, I understand clunky dialogue.

I almost got hornswaggled into that documentary. They weren't calling it The People vs. George Lucas at the time, but I could tell from the questions they were asking me, it was an open invitation to trash George. And I have issues with George, but I love that man. I would never — and I don't talk outside the family. It's just brutal.

The prequels have practically been beaten to death at this point, so there's no need for me to pile on further right now. I'll just say that Hamill's loyalty is admirable, and these comments show that he's a stand-up guy. It'd be really easy to bash those movies (and Jake Lloyd's performance...which was awful, even if he was just ten years old), but Hamill took the high road, and you've gotta respect that.